The Ancient Revelation: Rewrite

Taking in the fresh, clean air, Akio descends the hill, heading back to the headquarters. Starting today, he's taking a break.. but he hasn't decided if he should take more than a few days off. His body needs to rest, and Akio himself needs to get a refresh on his mental state.

Ah, no matter. Akio heads back for now. Entering the building, he greets the secretary, as he goes back to greet his peers too. Jack, Harumi, Genkei, Alexa, Aoi... Akio also checks up on Achilles while he's there.

After all that's said and done, Akio goes to his office. Once again, he sits in his chair, fidgeting around. To his eyes, there's not a whole lot to be done here except for training, except for one thing...

Genkei enters Akio's office.

- "You certainly look better than you did yesterday. Have you decided how to go about it?"

- "Nope! There is stuff to be done, though. Right?"

- "I guess so.. but look. Akio, take two weeks off."

In that moment, Akio averts his gaze to look at Genkei directly.

"You need to think it through. Your training can resume as soon as those two weeks end, but you should not only allow your body the time it needs to adapt to the power you're trying to reach, but also allow your mind some peace."

- "Your point being..?"

- "You've exhausted yourself these two days. You've met death, yet you managed to push on and break your limits. You felt that push which was required to get you over the brink. That has taken a toll on you. If you let off some steam.. when you return, you will be stronger."

Akio blinks, looking up to the ground. Genkei's point is correct. He did think a few days was enough, but perhaps.. two weeks would suit him.

- "Alright, you got me."

With a swift motion, Akio raises his hands in the air, laughing.

"I'll take two full weeks off training. When I return, though, I want to fight you at your best. I want to see the power that it took to beat me."

Genkei scoffs at Akio's remark.

- "As if you'll be able to keep up."

- "You bet your sweet ass I will."

The cousins shake their hands, closing in for a hug.

"Alright. Effective immediately, I'm off."

- "Take care, Akio."

Akio and Genkei exit the office, each heading towards different directions. After almost a day of having not gone back, Akio heads home, seeing his parents. Atlas and Akiko both welcome him warmly, as Akio sits with them for a bit.

The family enjoys a moment amongst themselves. After all, it's a bit of a rare occurence for both Atlas and Akio to be home at once, but it's definitely cathartic. After hanging out with them for a while and eating an actual meal after having only consumed snacks for the past day or so, Akio heads up to his room.

- "Hm..."

Now, Akio recalls the moment he told Aoi that he wouldn't change out of his outfit until he has the strength to defeat the commander.

"Should I?"

"..."

"Nah."

Akio swiftly takes off the outfit, instead changing to sweatpants and a hoodie, as he wears a pair of black sneakers. Waving his parents goodbye, Akio leaves his home again, ready to start his on-break activities.

"Hooo. It's been a while since I've one this."

Taking out a case from his pocket, Akio wears his wireless earbuds. Picking a song, he starts jogging. While it is soothing, Akio really prefers training over it. It's more stimulating and all, but this works too.

For his first act, Akio heads out of the city, into the outskirts. He stops at a certain place, in which there are marks. The aftermath of a battle. Akio looks on at the place where he first fought the undead soldiers and the commander.

It.. feels a bit weird. Akio feels angry. He was defeated in this very place, with one attack. Even so, Akio opts to ignore the anger bubbling up within. Instead, he grabs some string and a few sticks, making a small grave.

"May you rest in peace."

The grave is meant for the Dark Wizard's soldiers, both dead and undead, that fell here. Even if some were evil.. who knows? Maybe they were forced to fight, yet there was no other outcome other than to die.

Akio prays for a while before leaving. He thinks about the forest in which the second fight against the undead took place. Maybe he should go there too...

"Not now."

Instead, Akio decides to take a visit to the scouts scattered across town. He wants to see how they're doing, something that he didn't really consider. Though, he's not going back to the jungle because Genkei probably hasn't cleared the other three scouts to return to their posts, but that's alright.

Akio does indeed go to all the scouts, having fun with all of them and hearing their stories. Being out on patrol, keeping out the Wizard's soldiers and collecting information.. it's fun, but at times, it can be tiring too.

After a while, Akio does indeed visit all the scouts, but not much time has passed. It's still 1 PM. Akio sighs. The day doesn't go by any faster.. but he gets an idea. Pulling out his phone, Akio makes a phone call.

Back at the headquarters, Aoi's sitting in her office. She acts like the strategist of the Shining Generals, and she's trying to think of how they should go about with Akio's proposal.. until she gets a phone call.

Aoi picks it up, and lo and behold, it's Akio. The latter tells his idea to Aoi, and after she hangs up, she's a bit conflicted. From the other side of the room, Harumi notices her best friend's "predicament", deciding to help her.

- "He asked you to go on a date, didn't he?"

- "Yeah. Can I really leave my work like this, though?"

- "Just shut up and go. You want to, right?"

- "...I do."